1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,000 The great faithfulness of our Lord shows itself in part 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,280 through communicating His love and care for us as He does 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,800 through His Word. I would ask you at this time to 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:17,360 attend to the word of the Lord. And they devoted themselves to 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,760 the apostles, teaching, and the fellowship to the breaking of 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,280 bread. And the prayers and awe came 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,000 upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were 8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,000 being done through the apostles. And all who believed were 9 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,400 together and had all things in common. 10 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,440 And they were selling their possessions and belongings, and 11 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,720 distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 12 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,280 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking 13 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,640 bread in their homes, they received their food with glad 14 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:51,000 and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all 15 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,000 the people. And the Lord added to their 16 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,520 number day by day, those who were being saved. 17 00:00:58,640 --> 00:00:59,840 And this is the word of the Lord. 18 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,720 Thanks be to God. Dear Lord, we once again ask for 19 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,480 your blessing upon us as we hear these words. 20 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:10,600 Lord, help us to listen. Help us to listen well and to be 21 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,040 changed and transformed, not by the things that I say, but by 22 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,680 the things that you say. Through the power of your word 23 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,440 in which we trust, we ask through Christ our Lord. 24 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:21,480 Amen. Please be seated. 25 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,880 If you would grab your Bibles and turn to Acts Chapter 2, the 26 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,840 last section in Acts Chapter 2. Some of you are familiar with 27 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,520 the fact that I grew up about 100 miles north of here, a place 28 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,560 called Conneaut Lake, PA. And it was a fairly large sized 29 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,360 lake and we lived right on right alongside the lake. 30 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,120 And so my father had a speedboat and we spent a lot of our time 31 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,880 speeding around the lake, driving around the lake. 32 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,240 And as a family, we went swimming, we went fishing off 33 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,160 the boat, but largely we went skiing, water skiing off the 34 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,880 boat. Somewhere along my growing up 35 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,320 years, I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but my father 36 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,920 bought a sailing boat, a little sunfish sailing boat, one man 37 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,080 kind of a sailing boat. And I well remember the first 38 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,960 time that I took it for a spin. It was beautiful out, it was 39 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,320 wonderful. The wind was perfect and 40 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,400 everything worked absolutely wonderful. 41 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,400 It was sailing at its absolute best. 42 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:20,040 The boom saved free from all obstructions. 43 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,800 The center board and the rudder were worked perfectly by me. 44 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,600 The wind was perfect. I tacked around through the lake 45 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,080 all day, all day long. It was hours long process. 46 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,480 It was absolutely a perfect experience of being sailing 47 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,800 across that board. And I will say that as wonderful 48 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:40,240 as that first experience was, the next 100 times I never 49 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,480 repeated that there was always something wrong. 50 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:43,600 Everything. Now, it doesn't mean that 51 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,600 everything was bad from the next 100 times I went out sailing, 52 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,520 but sort of every the rest of the time that I went out, always 53 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,640 something happened. The Boone got caught up in the 54 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:59,160 ropes or I misplayed the center board or the rudder or the raw 55 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,480 problem with with the well in the boat, There was always a 56 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:03,960 problem. There's always something or I 57 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,240 tacked poorly through the time. Always. 58 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,640 It was never compared to that first experience, but I have to 59 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:14,320 say that that first experience didn't spoil sailing for me. 60 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,920 Rather, what it did is it put forward a model. 61 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,280 The rest of the time, most of the time was a good experience. 62 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,920 It just wasn't great. There were always some problems 63 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:27,520 there that were present and that first experience of sailing, 64 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:32,200 sailing at its best, kind of was always held forward as an image 65 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,160 or as a model for me of something that we were to, that 66 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,120 I was to aspire to as I went sailing. 67 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,280 I hope that I have as good a time out this time as I had that 68 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,760 very first time that I went along those lines. 69 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,280 Many of you know that we are working our way through the book 70 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,200 of Acts and we are focusing primarily upon three main 71 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,200 characteristics, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the 72 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,800 world. And the interplay of those 3 73 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:58,240 characteristics come across very clearly in the book of Acts. 74 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,880 Part of them come. Part of that interplay happens 75 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,880 very powerfully in Acts chapter 2, which is the passage that we 76 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:06,280 looked at the past couple of weeks. 77 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,680 And here we're looking at the very last section of it. 78 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,640 It opens with a description of something that happens when the 79 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,960 Holy Spirit comes upon the church there, disguises that the 80 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,839 power of the Holy Spirit coming. And then you've got that middle 81 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,839 section that we looked at last week, which was Peter's sermon 82 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,720 where he explains what happened in the description of the power 83 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,280 of the Spirit. And here these last few verses 84 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:32,520 of the chapter 2 of the Book of Acts detail for us the results 85 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:35,760 of that action. So first you had the description 86 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,520 of the action, then you had the explanation by Peter of the 87 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:43,880 action in his sermon, and now we have the results of the effect 88 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,960 of this. And I like to think of this as a 89 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,920 church at its best. This is the first brief cameo of 90 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,120 what it looks like to be the Church of the people of God. 91 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,560 And it is a beautiful picture. Now, you might think to 92 00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,760 yourself, well, of course it is. It's in the Bible and it's going 93 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:01,920 to be that way. But I will tell you that as we 94 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,240 continue to move through the book of Acts, we are going to 95 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,000 continue to run into periods and descriptions of the church where 96 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,400 the church deals with some immense problems internally as 97 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,920 well as external. They're going to struggle with 98 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:16,320 things. And we're going to look at them 99 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,560 as we look at the book of Acts. And we're going to see the 100 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:23,080 church failing to live up to the model that is put forward in 101 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,640 this first brief experience of this cameo of this beautiful 102 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,200 picture of what it looks like for a church to be filled with 103 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,200 the spirit. Because that's what's happened 104 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,760 here in the early part of the book of, of the chapter 2. 105 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,520 Here we have the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon the 106 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,560 people. They come upon the church. 107 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,040 And now Peter describes what takes place. 108 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,840 And in these final verses we say this is what a spirit filled 109 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,840 church looks like. Hebron is a great church. 110 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:53,680 There's a lot of wonderful things that take place here. 111 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,200 We have our problems, we have our failures. 112 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,080 We have difficulties in which we go through. 113 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,640 We also have some successes and across the board we want to be 114 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,000 the church at its best, and I think there's no better place to 115 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:09,760 look at that than in these verses. 116 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,000 We see what it means for a church to be at its best right 117 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:17,040 off the bat when we see that first of all, a church at its 118 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,760 best is a learning church, a learning church. 119 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,400 Look in verse 42, if you would with me and the church members, 120 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,480 the people, they devoted themselves to the apostles 121 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,760 teaching. They devoted themselves to the 122 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:31,320 apostles teaching. Now, of course, you got to 123 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,560 recognize what's happening here. We are right in the window of 124 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,240 the years after Jesus's death where the apostles were roaming 125 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,080 the earth, where the apostles were present there. 126 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:42,120 And Can you imagine the great joy? 127 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,800 Can you imagine what it would have been like to actually sit 128 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,520 in a room where Peter was saying, hey, I remember when 129 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,120 Jesus said this and when he did this or when John said it. 130 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,480 Look, this is what it meant when Christ went to the cross and 131 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,120 died for us, or this is what it looked like when he was 132 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,040 resurrected. Can you imagine what it would 133 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,160 have been like to sit at the disciples feet as they were 134 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,760 talking and saying, look, these are the things that I remember 135 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,280 and the excitement in which they would talk about Jesus Christ 136 00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:10,160 next to having Jesus himself present, speaking to them. 137 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,960 What could have been better, possibly better than having the 138 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,280 disciples, the apostles, They're saying, look, this is what we 139 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,680 know about Jesus Christ. Some of you realize that I'm 140 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,240 setting you up. I hope some of you realize I'm 141 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:29,600 setting you up because that's exactly what we have in the 142 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,640 scriptures. That's exactly what we have in 143 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,400 the Bible. The Bible is the record of the 144 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,560 apostles teachings, John 14 and John 16. 145 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,160 During those passages Jesus makes it clear that when he 146 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,800 leaves he will leave a record for us of his teachings, of his 147 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:47,480 speakings. And he does that through the 148 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,320 apostles. The apostles are called to mind. 149 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,200 The Holy Spirit calls to mind all the things that Jesus did so 150 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:55,360 that the apostles can faithfully pass it on. 151 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,640 And they have done so when you come before your the scriptures, 152 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,840 when you humble yourself before the Scriptures, when you set 153 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,840 yourself before the scriptures, you are exactly exposing 154 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:06,840 yourself to the apostles teachings. 155 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,760 You are in the exact scenario in which we painted earlier where 156 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,360 Jesus is left and left us with the apostles and left us with 157 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,080 the apostles teachings as all they remember and all they teach 158 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,640 us about Jesus Christ. We have that at the scriptures. 159 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:27,160 How can we not, if we are to be a church that I think what we 160 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,880 are, if we're to be that church at its best, we are going to be 161 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,159 a church that is a learning church, a church that is 162 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:37,320 growing, a church that is expressing and showing itself in 163 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,120 submission to the Scriptures, not just as a congregation. 164 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,760 It's hard to read this text and see it just speaking 165 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,600 collectively of the whole, but not also recognize that it's 166 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,760 speaking individually of every member, every member here, every 167 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,360 worshipper, every person. That's part of our fellowship. 168 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,680 If we are to be a church at its best is going to be somebody who 169 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,880 is devoted to the apostles teaching, devoted to the 170 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:11,360 Scriptures. We don't have a Bible study that 171 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,280 is going to fit every perfect schedule. 172 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,280 I realize that, but you have to find a way. 173 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:22,960 You have to find a way to be submissive to the Word of God, 174 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:27,840 to set yourself at the feet of the apostles and to hear their 175 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,040 teaching. You absolutely have to do that, 176 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:33,840 and not just in a ritualistic way. 177 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:36,480 Look at the word that they use. I love this verb. 178 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:41,000 And they devoted themselves. They devoted themselves to the 179 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,840 apostles teaching. And when I think of devotion, I 180 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:45,360 think of a couple of different things. 181 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,000 One is commitment that they're committed to it through the long 182 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,640 haul, that they're dedicated across the board. 183 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,280 Secondly, that that commitment is willing to be to to be 184 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,360 willing to be pursued even at a great cost, that it's costly, 185 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:02,760 that there's a sacrifice that is involved in it. 186 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,960 Sure, I'm committed to this, but I'm committed to this and it's 187 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,080 going to cost me time and energy and my focus. 188 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,440 And what I really want to do is I submit myself to the apostles 189 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,240 teaching. There's a costly commitment, but 190 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,680 it's also, I have to say, there's a number of projects in 191 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:20,200 my life that I have to do a lot of things that I have to do 192 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,120 around here at the church. And I try very much so to be 193 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,280 faithful and committed to it. And it cost me a lot of things 194 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,920 because I don't want to do them necessarily, but I pursue them. 195 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,560 And I wouldn't say that those things I'm devoted to. 196 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:34,800 Just because I'm committed to them, just because they're 197 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,360 costly to me, doesn't mean that I'm devoted to them. 198 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:39,200 I'm missing something. What am I missing? 199 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:44,640 I'm missing the the passion, the completeness, the idea that to 200 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:49,120 be devoted to something is to be full out involved with it, to be 201 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,880 committed completely of yourselves to the thing. 202 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,560 These folks are committed to the word of God. 203 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,680 That's what a church that is spirit filled, a spirit filled 204 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,200 church that is a church at its best is going to be committed to 205 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,080 the word of God in every possible way. 206 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,840 They're going to be devoted to it as we need to be devoted to 207 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,880 the word of God, both collectively but also all of us 208 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,800 individually. Now, this bumps up against a 209 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:20,520 characteristic that some hot time effects has affected the 210 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,360 American church in the past 200 years to various degrees. 211 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:29,200 And that is the idea that the more you learn about God, the 212 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:34,240 less you trust him, That there's some counterintuitive opposition 213 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:39,160 that happens between trusting the Lord and acting in faith in 214 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,680 the Lord and understanding and knowing Him. 215 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,280 If we understand, if we try too hard to understand things about 216 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:47,320 the Lord, then we will not trust Him. 217 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,680 We won't act in the spirit filled grace and mercy. 218 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,720 And this passage completely argues the exact opposite, that 219 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,400 a spirit filled church. What church could possibly be 220 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,280 more spirit filled than this one? 221 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,400 The early days of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit visibly 222 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,280 came upon them and they were manifesting the presence of the 223 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,360 Spirit in every way. And yet still they devoted 224 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,240 themselves to the apostles teacher teaching. 225 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,120 They were committed to understand, They were committed 226 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,920 to learn more and to grow more rather than take away from our 227 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,320 faith. The scriptures build our faith 228 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,960 and grow our faith. We need to be a learning church, 229 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,440 a church that is committed to understanding more and more of 230 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:31,800 the apostles teaching. But that's not all. 231 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,760 Not only are we a learning church first, but the church at 232 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:40,440 its best is also a church that that is a loving church. 233 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:44,000 Look in verse 42. And they devoted themselves to 234 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,800 the apostles teaching and the fellowship and the fellowship. 235 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,720 Now this is a Christianese word. If there ever is 1. 236 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,920 You know, we always, you know, let's fellowship together and 237 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:56,920 those kind of things. And when we think of fellowship, 238 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,280 my guess is that largely what we think of are the doughnuts that 239 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,240 follow our worship service. And it's, you know, the mingling 240 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,160 and the talking and, you know, checking on the weather and did 241 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,040 you get snowed in the other day? And, you know, doing the kind of 242 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,040 small style chit chat in which we do. 243 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,000 And that passes for our fellowship. 244 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:20,480 And that's part of it. That's an undeniable part of it. 245 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:25,920 I urge you strongly after the service to go help yourself to 246 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,040 Jerry's Doughnuts, Have a doughnut and sit around and chit 247 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:31,800 chat with people. It's absolutely true. 248 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,880 But fellowship is that word. And this is one of these Greek 249 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,800 words that you might have heard around the voice, Koinonia 250 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:40,560 fellowship. The word that's used here is 251 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:43,280 Koinonia. And Koinonia doesn't mean small 252 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,400 talk. It doesn't mean bumping into 253 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,320 each other. It doesn't mean chitchat. 254 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:51,920 What it means is common, a common sharing. 255 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:55,800 They committed themselves to what we have in common. 256 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:57,680 My friends, what do we have in common? 257 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:01,840 Think about it, OK? We're all, we all live somewhere 258 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,240 in the Pittsburgh area. We could say that we have that 259 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,200 in common. We all are kind of in the same 260 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,960 economic socioeconomic status in life. 261 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,960 OK, that's kind of in common. But you know, we're not totally 262 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:20,600 we we all kind of have the same belief structure, but not what 263 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:26,040 is it that we have in common. We have in common Jesus Christ 264 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:28,880 and the salvation, the redemption that we have in Jesus 265 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,120 Christ. That is a common bond that holds 266 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,120 us together. That is what it means that we 267 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,400 have fellowship with each other. When I look at you and we have 268 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,920 fellowship together, we are expressing and stressing that 269 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,520 commonality. And this comes true when the 270 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:45,080 author here elaborates a little bit at this. 271 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,480 Look if you could at verse 44 and all who believed were 272 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,000 together and had all things in common that common. 273 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,120 There is again that repetition of Koinonia, of the idea of 274 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,840 fellowship, of commonness. What do we have in common 275 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,320 together? We have that in common which 276 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:06,800 leads us to Jesus Christ. And that Jesus Christ commonness 277 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:12,000 is scary. Now, if you're not uncomfortable 278 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,520 when you read this passage, you're not reading it well. 279 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,000 You're reading it like it's talking about the church 2000 280 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,000 years ago and has nothing to do with us. 281 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,000 And you can't read the Scripture that way. 282 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:27,560 You cannot read the Scripture that way. 283 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,240 The Holy Spirit, just as he filled that church, is filling 284 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,800 this church and is forcing us to confront totally that scripture 285 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:40,120 that says, and all who believed were together and they had all 286 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,960 things in common. Verse 45 And they were selling 287 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,440 their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to 288 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:53,640 all as any had need. A spirit filled church, a church 289 00:15:53,640 --> 00:16:01,680 at its best is a loving church and a loving church is going to 290 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:07,000 recognize the need of those who around us now. 291 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,160 Now is not the time to tackle biblical economics or biblical 292 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:16,600 ethics, but we should notice it. You should absolutely notice the 293 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,520 fact that the disciples, the early church, were selling their 294 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,120 possessions so that they could cover the needs of the people 295 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,120 that are around them now. Does that mean that God is 296 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,880 calling all of us to go out and sell all of our homes and all of 297 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,320 our cars and give away our bank accounts? 298 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:39,800 Maybe, as we know that he's done that with the rich young roller. 299 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:45,160 He did exactly that. I'm not suspecting that that's 300 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,960 what this passage is telling us. It certainly is not in part 301 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,080 because it's descriptive. It's telling us what they did. 302 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,800 It's not prescriptive telling us what we must do. 303 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,720 But there is a principle that is present here. 304 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,120 Do you see the principle at the end of verse 45? 305 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:03,640 They were selling their possessions and belongings and 306 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:08,560 distributing the proceedings as any had need. 307 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,119 Now we're told a little bit later that they were breaking 308 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,520 their breads in their homes. So it's clear that not everybody 309 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,119 sold their homes, not everybody gave everything away. 310 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:23,200 This is not a call of communism or socialism, but it is an 311 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,760 absolute declaration of insistence that we care for 312 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:33,640 those who are in need. Every week this church is 313 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:40,000 confronted by people who are in need from the outside and from 314 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:50,600 the inside, and it is a horrible accusation against us if we are 315 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:55,840 ever unable, in a wise and godly, stewardly way, to meet 316 00:17:55,840 --> 00:18:01,280 those needs. If you ever want to hear some of 317 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,760 the great stories of what it means to meet some of those 318 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:09,080 needs, talk to Jerry, talk to the staff, talk to those who are 319 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:13,440 meeting those needs and does. Who can describe the wealth of 320 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,080 blessing that the Lord pours out through this church when this 321 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:21,880 church is at its best? Nobody is without a need that is 322 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,120 being wisely stewardly met. Now, does that mean that 323 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:28,320 everybody here needs to go out and sell everything? 324 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:34,040 Probably not. Maybe, but probably not. 325 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:41,480 But if you can't read this passage and insist that you come 326 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,840 away and relook at your own balance, book, checkbook, 327 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:51,040 savings account, your finances, if you can't say to yourself I 328 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,840 can do more to care for the needs of my brothers and 329 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,920 sisters, those whom I have in common. 330 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,760 Then again, I can't believe you're reading the scriptures 331 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,240 right. I realize that there are people 332 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,400 that are living on the edge of the bubble here at financially. 333 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,360 I know that to be true. I've spent time talking with 334 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:13,520 you, etcetera. I still cannot believe that 335 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:18,400 there's not anybody in this room that cannot hear well this text 336 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:23,320 and say I've got to look again to see if I can help meet the 337 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:27,400 needs of any in our fellowship because of the common bonds that 338 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:32,560 we have in Jesus Christ. Christian fellowship is 339 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:38,640 Christian caring and Christian caring is Christian sharing. 340 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:47,080 We have to do better. We do great sometimes, but we 341 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,000 don't do great sometimes. We have to do better if we're 342 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,360 going to be the church at its best, which is a church that is 343 00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:57,880 devoted to the apostles teaching and also to the fellowship. 344 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,520 And looking back at verse 42 them you also see that it is a 345 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,280 church that is devoted to the breaking of bread and the 346 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,160 prayers. Breaking of the bread and the 347 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,120 prayers. Breaking of the bread might 348 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:10,840 sound a little different to you, but if you've been around church 349 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:12,640 long enough, you'll know the association. 350 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,840 It's a metaphor here for a communion, that we have the 351 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,880 worship together. So this is a picture of worship 352 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:24,880 as a whole, a learning church. It is a loving church, is a 353 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,320 worshipping church. It is a church that worships and 354 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,600 it worships well, and it worships according to the Word 355 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,200 of God in the Scriptures. And we can see that worship 356 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:37,200 played out here again as we see in verse 46, where the author 357 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,800 goes on and says and day by day attending the temple together 358 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:42,320 and breaking bread in their homes. 359 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,960 What are they doing here? They're worshipping together. 360 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,120 That's breaking the bread and the prayers is collectively 361 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:51,120 stated here that for them worshipping. 362 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,080 And how are they worshipping? They're worshipping in the 363 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,920 temple together. Now, what do we mean by that, 364 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,120 the imagery here or how do we translate that forward? 365 00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:02,720 We're not likely to travel over to Jerusalem to worship in the 366 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,040 temple. What how do we translate that 367 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,080 forward? They were worshipping 368 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:13,760 collectively as a group together and individually in family units 369 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,480 in their homes. That's what I understand verse 370 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,760 46 to say. They were attending the temple 371 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:21,400 together and breaking their bread in their homes. 372 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,120 Their worship, the worship that God calls forward from a spirit 373 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,920 filled church, is going to be a worship where God's people come 374 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:33,120 together and worship Him and where they learn what it means 375 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:34,800 to worship the Lord individually. 376 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,760 Where worship, personal worship, becomes an essential part of who 377 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,840 you are as a follower of Jesus Christ. 378 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,800 That worship is present here when we gather together, and 379 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,160 it's present in your life. If you are worshipping the Lord 380 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:51,720 for one hour a week, you are doomed to dissatisfaction in 381 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,640 your own life. It is impossible not to imagine 382 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,400 that there will not be unfaithfulness that comes about 383 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,160 in your life if your cool life of worship is built around one 384 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,600 hour a week. Worship is something that is 385 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,520 supposed to mark every characteristic, every aspect of 386 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,800 our lives and what kind of worship are we talking about And 387 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,400 again, I I love that there's that they speak to this here. 388 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:19,200 Look back in verse 43 for a second and awe came upon every 389 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,560 soul. Awe there worship is a is a 390 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:28,680 reverence to our Lord and if ever we're irreverent in our 391 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,960 worship, we are failing to be biblical. 392 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,760 We're failing to act out a spirit filled church. 393 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,520 Our church needs to be filled and our worship needs to be 394 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,560 filled your personal worship and our collective worship needs to 395 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,040 be filled with an awe inspiring time and trust me, your staff 396 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:47,280 tried desperately to make worship here an awe inspiring 397 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,200 fact. Now of course it's not up to us 398 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,160 it's up to the spirit that is moving within us. 399 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,680 It's up to the spirit moving within you to bring that awe 400 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,680 about, but we need to do our best for worship to be a 401 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,360 reverent, awe inspiring experience and yet also 402 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,800 collectively look in verse 46 and they were received their 403 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,360 food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having 404 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:14,440 the favor of all the people. There's a joyous characteristic. 405 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,080 Worship is an off filled experience. 406 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,240 It absolutely is, but it is unforgivable if it is dull. 407 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,080 It's unforgivable if it is boring. 408 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,320 Worship is coming before the Lord Himself. 409 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:30,680 Of course there's great reverence there. 410 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,560 There's great reverence, but there is absolute joy that is 411 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:38,080 manifest in the people of God, both in our collective worship 412 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,880 and in our individual worship. This kind of experience is what 413 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,920 it means to be part of a church that is spirit filled, a spirit 414 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:50,760 filled church, a learning church, a loving church, a 415 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:55,840 worshiping church, and a church that is preoccupied with its 416 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:04,760 learning, loving and worship. Could very well miss this 4th 417 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,760 characteristic that is displayed at the end of verse 47. 418 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,440 And the Lord added to their number day by day, those who 419 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:18,360 were being saved. A learning church is a loving 420 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:22,360 church, is a worshipping church, is a witnessing church, an 421 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,880 evangelistic church. It is a church whereby Remember 422 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,400 this goes all the way back to God's first initial command. 423 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,360 Wait in the Jerusalem for the power of the Holy Spirit to come 424 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:34,360 upon you and then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, 425 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,240 Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 426 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,160 The the church is called into existence to be a witnessing 427 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,680 church and the witnessing to the world. 428 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,200 This is the connection between the Spirit, the church and the 429 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,280 world. Here we have the world as a 430 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,880 target audience for which the church is faithful and for the 431 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,200 which the church is called into mission by God himself. 432 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,760 God is called the Spirit filled church to be a witnessing 433 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,880 church. And again, you can see the great 434 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,480 effect of Heaven church faithfully in its witness. 435 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,360 And I think you'd have to say we could do so much more. 436 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,320 We could do so much. We are surrounded by people, 437 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,520 literally thousands of people within a mile radius of this 438 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,800 church who desperately need to hear the gospel message. 439 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:28,440 Thousands, folks, thousands. And we know that this is a 440 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,320 spirit filled church. And the way that the spirit 441 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,800 filled church leads them to do this is articulated at the end 442 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:37,000 of verse 47. Notice these three 443 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,120 characteristics. First off, a spirit filled 444 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:44,480 church realizes that we are witnessing to the Lord, but it 445 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,920 is a Lord who does the work. Who does this work here in verse 446 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,120 47. At the end of verse 47, it's the 447 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,560 Lord added to their number. It's the Lord that does the 448 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,800 work. We need to be faithful, the 449 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,560 tools in His hands, but He is the one who does the work. 450 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,640 It is our responsibility to be faithful, to witness and to pray 451 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,280 and to seek and to be devoted to it. 452 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,080 In the same way that we're talking about devotion here, to 453 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,960 be devoted that way. And yet ultimately it is the 454 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:21,360 Lord's call for for him to work. And what does he do? 455 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:27,520 He adds day by day, consistently, constantly. 456 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:32,160 This is not, I'm not making us a plea for an evangelistic 457 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:33,880 campaign, although I'm all for that. 458 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:36,920 If we want to do something like that, because it's something 459 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,080 that needs to be a part of our everyday experience. 460 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:44,760 The Lord adding to our numbers every single day, consistently, 461 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,800 constantly. Secondly and then finally, those 462 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:54,080 who were being saved, He is adding to the church those who 463 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,760 are being saved. There is a connection to being 464 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,400 saved and being part of the church. 465 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:03,200 The connection is undeniable here. 466 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:08,360 This gives up the this this betrays the impossibility of The 467 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,720 Lone Ranger Christian. There is no such thing as a Lone 468 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,560 Ranger Christian. A Christian is tied to the 469 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:20,120 church because the Lord adds to their number every day those who 470 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:22,480 are being saved. For those of us who are saved, 471 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,960 we are added into the Church of God and he calls us then to be 472 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,360 part of this perfect church. I think in which you can think 473 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:34,000 of the church at its best in terms of a series of 474 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,200 relationships. A church at its best is going to 475 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:42,920 be in relationship of submission to the Word of God, to the 476 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:48,320 apostles teaching. How effectively is the 477 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:52,720 relationship that you have personally with the Word of God 478 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,080 in submission? Not something that you have it, 479 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:58,760 not something that you read it, but that you are submitting 480 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:05,880 yourself to it devotedly. How effective is this church's 481 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,440 ministry and submission to the Word of God? 482 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:14,120 Secondly, related to that, how are we related in love towards 483 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:18,440 one another? A costly love, devoted love 484 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,160 committed, costly, all consuming. 485 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,360 How is your love displayed towards those around you? 486 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:32,160 Not the people you like, they're the easy ones to love, but the 487 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,120 people that you barely know here. 488 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,720 Are you demonstrating a love relationship because that's 489 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,560 built into what it means to have a spirit filled church at its 490 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,800 best. How is your relationship with 491 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,440 God collectively and individually? 492 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:54,840 Is your worship filled with reverence? 493 00:28:55,520 --> 00:29:00,040 Is your worship filled with awe? Is your worship filled with joy? 494 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:05,120 And if it's not, it might be part our problem. 495 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,840 We might need to do better from the front, but I guarantee you, 496 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:14,040 you got to do better. That relationship is on us to be 497 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:18,360 that related to God in worship. And finally, how are we related 498 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:22,880 to the world with witnessing? How effectively do we 499 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:27,280 communicate the gospel message? How effectively are we exposing 500 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:32,480 ourselves in sacrifice to those around us who desperately need 501 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:34,320 the blessings of the call of God? 502 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,840 What's your relationship like with the Scriptures? 503 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,080 With the apostles? What's your relationship like 504 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:40,960 with others? What's your relationship like 505 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:42,880 with God? What's your relationship like 506 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,840 with the world? There's got to be something 507 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:50,480 there for you to take home and ask that question that Peter's 508 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,680 audience asked. Brothers and sisters, what shall 509 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:58,440 we do? Lord God, we do ask for your 510 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:02,000 great blessing here upon us as we are confronted why by this 511 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,600 beautiful picture, this beautiful cameo of the church at 512 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:07,760 its best. We thank you that you have 513 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,360 placed us in a position where we have so many good things going 514 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:15,160 on here and yet where we have so many opportunities where we can 515 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:19,840 be better both as a church individuals collectively. 516 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,520 Lord, make it so. We pray so that that great 517 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:27,120 blessing of ministering to this world, loving one another, 518 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,640 demonstrating our submission to the Scriptures, and worshipping 519 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,120 you comes through in all that we do. 520 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,560 We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior. 521 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:36,360 Amen.